It helped that her targets were almost exclusively the rich, arrogant, and corrupt. There was something satisfying about taking from people like that. Her boyfriend, Derek, didn’t seem to see it the same way. He’d told her on many occasions that she should do jobs with his gang, that he was working where the money was. Kate had just laughed at him—she didn’t let other people choose her jobs.

Hence why she was currently picking the lock on the office door of a senator who was not only the proud owner of three houses, but was a bit of a creep as well. He’d been at the Starbucks where she’d worked a few days back, and Kate had seen him hitting on her co-worker—a shy girl who was just out of high school, making her easily a quarter of the senator’s age. She’d gotten his name off of the order, and it hadn’t taken long to formulate a plan against him.

The lock clicked, and Kate let herself into the office. Getting into the building had been embarrassingly easy, and she knew for a fact that the senator was out on a lunch break. That didn’t mean she was going to sit around and wait for him to return, though. She had too much professional pride for that.

The safe was situated at the back corner of his office, not obscured by a thing. Kate rolled her eyes and knelt next to it. “Your owner is a moron,” she muttered to it, getting to work on the lock.

A few minutes later, it clicked open, revealing the contents. Allowing herself a smirk, Kate unzipped one of the pockets in her backpack and began filling it with stacks of cash.

She was halfway finished when she heard voices outside the door. Oh, no—he’s not supposed to be back yet. Smacking the safe door shut, Kate yanked the zipper closed. Slinging the backpack over her shoulder, she made a snap decision and darted forward just as the door opened.

She made it behind the door as it swung open, admitting two men. Neither of them was the senator, but both were talking animatedly, and didn’t notice as Kate moved. “Yeah, apparently there’s supposed to be some kind of robbery here today. That’s why all those law enforcement guys are here. Weird, right?”

“You can say that again,” agreed the other man as Kate caught hold of the door knob before it could fall closed. Silently, she eased it open again. “Can’t imagine what they’d steal from here.”

The first man snorted. “Try not to make it so obvious that you’re new. Now, what did Senator Littlejohn want from here again?”

Kate didn’t wait to hear the response. Slipping through the doorway, she let the door drop closed as she turned—and ran smack into someone.

Stumbling backwards, she caught a brief impression of a man wearing a button down shirt and a frown. Oh, crap.

“You’re not supposed to be up here—” he started, and Kate cut him off by doing the only thing she could think of. She punched him in the face with a satisfying crack, and took off down the hall.

She heard shouts behind her, but didn’t stop. At least, she didn’t stop until she careened around the corner and came face to face with another man. This one, unfortunately, was holding a gun.

“Good afternoon, miss,” he said, his voice mild and polite, with what sounded like a British accent. “Would you mind putting your hands in the air? I’m afraid you’re under arrest.”

Kate held back a groan, but did what he said. Double crap. Just when I say what I did about not getting caught.

Her backpack was taken, and she handcuffed and led down the hall to a meeting room, empty except for a table and two chairs. Kate was cuffed to one of them, while the man who’d stopped her took the one across from her.

“I’ll admit, it was mostly good luck we caught you,” he said conversationally. He was older, with graying brown hair, and was dressed in a neat, inexpensive suit. “None of us had the faintest clue you were already in the building. It was just bad luck for you that had us sweeping this floor when you were sneaking out. Bad luck for Chambers, as well,” he added as Kate heard the door behind her open. “How’s the nose, Chambers?”

“Could be worse, sir,” came the reply, and Kate glanced up as the man who she’d punched stepped into view. His nose was swollen and crooked, and he wore a frown that deepened as he met her gaze. Folding his arms, he settled behind the older man, like he was waiting for judgment to be passed on her.

Kate already disliked him.

The sound of a throat being cleared pulled her attention back to the older man, who was flipping through a file. “We also didn’t know it was you coming—well, not for sure,” he said. “We had a list of thieves that were known to hit targets like this, but we very nearly took your name off the list. We would have if Chambers hadn’t brought it to my attention that you work at one of those American coffee shops the good senator likes to frequent.”

Kate couldn’t hold back a scoff, and the man glanced up at her. “You disagree?”

“With the good part, yeah,” Kate said flatly. “He’s a creep, and if you’re here defending him that makes you just as bad.”

“We’re not defending his actions, we’re preventing you from breaking the law,” the other man—Chambers, Kate thought—spoke up. “His wrongdoings don’t make yours right.”

“I disagree,” Kate said. “I think anyone who takes payoffs from drug cartels and worse deserves to have his money taken.”

“A sentiment I’m sure you’re not alone in,” the first man cut in. “However, that’s not what we’re here to discuss, Miss—Davis, isn’t it? Kate Davis?”

Kate didn’t answer. The less you give them, the better, she thought. Because things could only get worse from here.

“Well, Miss Davis, I’m Agent Andersen. And I’m here to offer you a chance to escape from your otherwise unpleasant fate.”

That got Kate’s attention. Frowning at him, she said, “I was just caught robbing a senator. If I’m lucky, I’m going away for that. But most likely, you’re going to take me out to some back alley and get rid of me.”

“That’s what you think of us?” Chambers said, a look of disgust crossing his face.

“That’s how law enforcement works these days,” Kate shot back. “Surprising that you don’t know that, Officer. Or maybe you are as dumb as you look. I did think I heard an echoing sound when I punched your stupid face—is it actually hollow in there?”

He frowned even more deeply, and Andersen spoke up. “Miss Davis, we are not going to kill you. You’re quite right in your assessment—most government agencies are corrupt these days in the States. Luckily for you, I’m not from the States. And catching criminals is something of a passion for me. So your deal is as follows—you hand over the person we ask for, someone more valuable, and you go free. Otherwise, you go to prison. Simple as that.”

Kate felt her gut plummet. “But it’s not,” she said. “And you know it. Because prison is a death sentence for almost everyone these days.”

“In most situations, yes,” Andersen agreed calmly. Meeting her gaze squarely, he asked, “So. Would you like a way out?”

Oh, she hated this. She hated the idea that this man with his accent and his strange manner, to say nothing of his scowling sycophant, were in control of her life.

But she didn’t have much of a choice.

Which was why he was a little surprised when, on his way across the parking lot, he felt a wave of water wash over his feet.

Startled, Kyle looked down. He knew it had rained the night before, and had been avoiding the puddles left in the potholes without really thinking about it. In fact, he still wasn’t in one of the puddles.

Slowly, he turned to look to his left. Kate, who was coming into work for a briefing, was standing next to him, trying to look just a little too innocent. And she was also standing in the middle of one of the shallower potholes, water resettling back around her Doc Martens.

“What are you doing?” Kyle asked.

Grinning a little, Kate said, “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Trying to drown my shoes?”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, Chambers. Don’t tell me you never jumped through puddles as a kid.”

“As a kid, probably, yes,” Kyle said.

“Well, I see no reason why kids should get all the fun. You’ve gotta seize joy where you can find it, after all. And don’t worry, it’s only partially the joy of drowning your shoes.”

This was where he should have frowned in disapproval, like he used to when she made a joke. Unfortunately, since marrying Davis, he had somewhat given up on that attempt, and a laugh slipped out. “Is this the kind of behavior you’re gonna teach our kid?”

“Absolutely,” Kate assured him, and he laughed again.

“I guess I can’t really begrudge you that.”

“It’s been fine,” Kyle said, redirecting his attention to the paperwork in front of him. 

“Really? Just fine? Honestly, Kyle, you never give me any proper descriptions of things. What all happened? Is Andersen eating properly? Did Maryeme’s youngest get that part in the play? And what’s Ivan been up to?”

Without looking up, Kyle said, “More or less, yes, and he’s still single.”

“Rude,” Gloria huffed with annoyance. Kyle ignored it— everyone knew that Gloria and Ivan were head over heels for each other. With, of course, the exception of Gloria and Ivan. Kyle had long since elected to stay out of it. “Well, are there any cases I should know about?”

Kyle opened his mouth to tell her no— and then stopped. Because she was one of Andersen’s top agents, and his partner. So, technically, if anyone should know about this, it was her.

But he really, really didn’t want to tell her about it. And by it, he meant Kate.

Unfortunately, Gloria caught his hesitation, and arched an eyebrow at him. “Something you’d like to share?”

“We found an informant on Alban.”

Gloria’s eyes widened.

She’d been there, right next to him, when Andersen had found his family dead by Derek Alban’s hand. His wife and two daughters, killed brutally. Kyle shuddered internally at the memory. They both knew what catching Alban meant to Andersen.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “Tell me as much as you can.”

Kyle paused, collecting his thoughts. “Kate Davis. She’s a thief who was in a relationship with him. But he abandoned her after we caught her robbing one of the local senators.”

Nodding, Gloria said, “Good for her.”

“Not exactly,” Kyle said, “but I’m not going to argue that point with you right now. She’s given us a lot of intel on some of his previous crimes, and his hideouts. It’s turned out pretty well for us. We haven’t caught him yet, but we’ve brought in several of his men, caught a mole in the department, and we’re close to catching up with him.”

Gloria grinned. “That’s fabulous news. Then why so hesitant?”

She would notice that. “Um. It’s complicated. Kate is— that is, I—”

“Good afternoon, Gloria.”

Andersen’s mild voice cut through Kyle’s stammering, and they both looked up to see their boss holding a mug of tea. “I take it Kyle’s giving you his news?”

“He’s trying to,” Gloria said, side-eyeing Kyle.

Chuckling, Andersen said, “Cut him some slack. Telling you he got married while you were gone can’t be easy.”

Oh boy. Kyle winced as Gloria’s jaw dropped.

“You did WHAT? Wait— oh, wow. Oh, stars. Kyle, did you fall in love with a criminal?”

“No,” Kyle said, his voice sharper than it should have been. “It’s not like that, she needed help.”

“So you married her?” Gloria said, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “So logical.”

“It’s not—” Kyle cut himself off, taking a deep breath. “Okay. I’m going to explain this to you in three sentences, and then you’re going to go away and let me finish my paperwork.”

“I will make no such promise. But give it a shot.”

“She’s pregnant with Derek Alban’s child.” Kyle saw Gloria’s eyes go wide, and continued. “She didn’t want him to find out and use the baby as leverage, so I offered to pretend to be the baby’s father, and marrying her is what I would do if it was real. Now please go away.”

Gloria stared at him, her mouth open, for a long moment. Then, hopping to her feet, she said, “I see where this is going. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go ask Ivan and Maryeme for the tea about this situation. Later.”